LONDON, June 20 (Reuters Life!) – Shortly after dawn on a misty June morning Haile Gebrselassie glides through the streets and parks amid London's more celebrated landmarks.

A diminutive Ethiopian running through St James's Park then heading back past Big Ben over Westminster Bridge back to his riverside hotel is unlikely to attract more than a cursory glance from workers heading for the early shift.

Revellers lurching home from the West End might not even notice him at all.

In five years' time, though, the same streets will be packed with spectators cheering the competitors in the 2012 London Olympic marathon. Gebrselassie, the best distance runner of his era, intends in his 40th year to be among the field.